Pittsburgh Ponders Smoking Ban

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, January 9, 2003

A century ago, the air in Steel City was so dirty that businessmen were said to have changed their shirts once or twice a day. Half a century ago, soot-covered downtown buildings had to be steam-cleaned.

Today, some say about the only smoke that's bothersome in Pittsburgh comes from indoor smokers.

The county that includes Pittsburgh is toying with the idea of taking its clean air campaign indoors by banning smoking in more than 8,000 restaurants and bars. Health officials announced this week they are looking at whether they have the authority to ban smoking and how far such a restriction can go.

If passed, the Pittsburgh region would join a growing number of cities and states that restrict places where people can smoke, said Don Schumaker, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco, which is affiliated with the American Lung Association.

New York, which has prohibited smoking in most restaurants since 1995, will add bars to the ban March 30. Boston has a similar ban. Chicago, Denver and Dallas are also considering bans, Schumaker said.

And while health-conscious California remains at the forefront of the fight, Florida in November passed an initiative to ban smoking in the workplace, including restaurants. The Sunshine State's ban will go into effect in July.

"We know smokers are damaged by cigarettes. We also know that secondhand smoke kills. I know people say it's a right-to-smoke issue but that right also infringes on people's right to breathe clean air, and that should stop," Schumaker said.

But a possible ban on smoking in restaurants and bars isn't just a health issue for Pittsburgh _ it's also a way to dust off the city's industrial image.

"Over the years we have been working with community groups and other regulatory agencies to remove the image of the smoky city from Pittsburgh. There's no reason why we can't have full community involvement to look at a ban on indoor smoking," said Dave Zazac, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department.

He pointed to environmental improvements around Neville Island, an industrial island made up of many chemical and manufacturing plants on the Ohio River. Over the past decade, companies have made efforts to make the island livable and wildlife has slowly returned.

To the south of Pittsburgh, Zazac said five communities in the heart of the Monongahela River valley are trying to get the federal government to recognize their air quality improvements. An improved designation would be a major victory for the area that produced much of America's steel during World War II.

Some residents, however, predicted that the county will have a tough time getting smokers to kick the habit inside restaurants and bars.

"I think Pittsburgh is fairly working-class and I think people should enjoy their time where and how they want because they work hard," said Andrea Sciulli, 33, of Pittsburgh.

County health officials say the public needs to be protected. Seventy percent of the population doesn't smoke, Zazac said.

Smoking ban advocates commended the county, but worry that the effort will likely have to happen on the state level. Under Pennsylvania's 1988 Clean Indoor Air Act, restaurants with more than 75 seats have to provide a nonsmoking section. However, the act prohibits municipalities from banning smoking, Schumaker said.

"The battle has to be fought in Harrisburg so we can have the chance to fight the battle in Pittsburgh," Schumaker said.

Walter Kidney, 70, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident who grew up around the scent of coal wafting from the smokestacks, said a ban should be voluntary. Kidney, an architectural historian with the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said he had smoked a pipe for 50 years until two years ago.

"There are places where you sit down and they expect you to light up. It should be up to the management inside," Kidney said.

Mort added that Pittsburgh has been and remains a smokers' town.

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"No matter where you go, everybody is out on the street with a cigarette in the hand," Mort said.